


Skyscraper

by GalaxyOwl13



Series: Moments and Memories [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Classic Doctor Who - Freeform, Doctor Who Feels, Female Protagonist, Gen, One Shot, POV Third Person, Paradise Towers, Why Did I Write This?, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, at the end, basically Mel stays at Paradise Towers, because it's about her life, but I thought I should warn for it anyway, but it's not about that and it's not painful to read, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26273767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyOwl13/pseuds/GalaxyOwl13
Summary: Mel builds a life for herself in Paradise Towers. She never regrets her choice to stay.
Relationships: Melanie Bush & Seventh Doctor
Series: Moments and Memories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906012
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Skyscraper

**Author's Note:**

> National Skyscraper Day – Write a story set in a large building, for the National Whatever Day - September Edition challenge. I have no idea why I wrote this.

“Well,” Mel says, because this is as good a moment as any, “I suppose it’s time.”

“Time?” The Doctor asks. “Funny old business, time.”

Then he already knows what she is trying to say. Mel is certain of it. But he simply doesn’t want to believe it. “No, Doctor,” she says gently. “I meant it’s time I should be going.”

* * *

The decision to stay was a hard one, but someone has to look after the mess that the Paradise Towers was. Besides, she has travelled with the Doctor for long enough, and now it was time for her to make her own path. Every night, she goes to bed wondering if tomorrow she’ll wake up having come to her senses. And every morning, she wakes up without regret for her choice to stay.

It is time for her to build a life here, among the lost souls who inhabit this building. It is time for them to grow, to change, to learn. Together. And Mel wouldn’t miss it for the life of her.

* * *

After a month goes by, life has some semblance of normality. Mel loves a schedule, almost as much as the Caretakers love rules. None of them will accept an exercise plan from her, though she supposes that they get enough from the difficult work of cleaning the towers. Now that everyone’s working together, they don’t have to worry about fighting anymore. Slowly, they begin to reclaim the building, opening locked doors and driving out the rats. The wallscrawl stays, though.

It turns out that the Rezzies are awfully fond of carrot juice.

* * *

When they uncover the computers, Mel gasps, her eyes widening as she stares at the massive machines. There will be a lot of work to do.

Bit by bit, she discovers their functions, repairing that which needs repairing and replacing the parts which are too far gone. She used to do this, back in Pease Pottage, before the Doctor showed her the universe.

One day, she notices a Blue Kang watching her work, so she teaches her everything she knows. The girl, Ball Game, is eager, with a memory almost as good as Mel’s. Together, they build new computers from the old ones’ dusty remains.

* * *

Two years after Mel decided to stay, they open the doors. It was a hard decision, but in the end everyone was agreed. They have to discover what is outside the Towers.

When no one comes, Mel is the first to suggest that they send a small party to explore the outside world. In the end, she goes with Fire Escape, Bin Liner’s second in command, along with two of the caretakers and Safety Glasses. Ball Game begs to come, but in the end, she accepts that someone has to be able to work the computers.

* * *

The world outside is desolate. Dry ground, covered in ash and the ruins of buildings. Everything is grey, grey and brown, as far as the eye can see. And then she looks up. The sky is blue, blue with fluffy white clouds and a bright, shining sun.

Mel spreads her arms. She had almost forgotten what the sky felt like.

* * *

They return, having found no one but bones half-buried in the ground. “Don’t give up hope,” Mel says as one of the Rezzies begins to cry. “There’s still us.”

And so, they wait, occasionally sending out patrols to check the surrounding area. There’s nothing left except the ruins of a dead civilization.

But the ruins can be useful, Mel knows, if they hope to reclaim this world.

* * *

Three years after Mel left the Doctor, both groups of Kangs offer her their colors simultaneously. Mel turns both of them down. “I’m not a Kang,” she explains. “But I’m glad you wanted to make me one.”

* * *

Eventually, the people of Paradise Towers decide that some of their number should live in the outside world. The sky has grown addictive, and already some do not wish to return after their patrols. Mel is the first to volunteer for the new settlement. She loves Paradise Towers, but it’s because of the people there.

She’ll miss the computers, but she knows that they’ll be in good hands with Ball Game.

* * *

In the morning, Mel wakes to the rising sun, and she runs. Each day faster than the last, each day farther than the last. She always returns to her home, though. She digs the fields and cooks the food along with the other Caretakers and Kangs and Rezzies. And she eats with them too.

They’ve all grown to like carrot juice, just as she knew they would.

* * *

When Mel is thirty, she moves to the next town over, a brave little settlement that has set up farther from Paradise Towers. She is welcomed there, and when she leaves in a year’s time, their good wishes go with her.

Mel helps to start a new village, and then moves on to find another has sprouted up. Within time, Ball Game shows her the radio she’s been making, and Mel brings it to the other cities so that they can talk from miles away.

* * *

The world grows, and Mel grows with it. Some days, she looks up at the sky and wonders where the Doctor is now, if he misses her. She knows she misses him. But she is yet to regret her decision.

* * *

Mel becomes a legend. She walks from place to place, and sees Kangs and Caretakers and Rezzies all living together.

“Tell me a story,” pleads a child.

Mel has many stories to tell. Stories of strangers, stories of skies, stories of stars. The next town she goes to, they all want stories.

And so, Mel tells them of the world.

* * *

When she has lived many years, she passes away quietly in her sleep. The news travels, and everyone mourns. She is buried under the clear blue sky.

Back at Paradise Towers, they circle round a monument made of cloth and netting. “Hail Mel,” they chant. “Hail the unalive. In life she was not a Kang, but was always brave and bold as a Kang should be.”

They are wearing purple.

* * *

She was made of stardust, they say. She was made of stardust and stories and love.

And when she spread her arms, they scraped the sky.


End file.
